University of Louisville Partners with California Bio Company

Vacaville, CA-based Large Scale Biology Corp. and the University of Louisville in Kentucky have agreed to work on developing and evaluating new therapies that could prevent and treat diseases caused by human papilloma viruses or HPV, the two organizations said Monday.

Large Scale will design and produce vaccine and antibody products. University scientists will evaluate the products in animal models of various HPV diseases.

HPV is known to cause most cervical cancers, and many head and neck and other soft-tissue cancers. It responds to control by vaccine and antibody therapy, according to Large Scale.

A growing number of other diseases are linked to HPV, including skin and genital warts, and Large Scale believes there is a "significant market opportunity" for safe and effective new products.

The company is using its gene expression and biomanufacturing system to produce new vaccines. The latest version of its technology has produced hybrid vaccines consisting of HPV antigens fused to the plant viral coat protein.

The new vaccine designs are stable and can be produced with substantial manufacturing advantages over more conventional cell culture-based approaches, according to Large Scale.

Large Scale and the University of Louisville will jointly fund the project. The University of Louisville is a recipient of a grant agreement with the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority to develop a new initiative known as the Kentucky Cancer Experimental Therapeutics Program. Part of the statewide program will be used to support Large Scale's work. The company's commercial-scale biomanufacturing facility is in Owensboro, Ky.

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